Ban on Burqa is an invasion of privacy: EU chief

Strasbourg, Mar 8: Amidst the uproar on the ban of burqa in the European contries, a European rights chief said on Sunday, Mar 7 said that imposing a ban on the full Islamic veil would alienate Muslim women in the society.

Speaking against the ban on burqa or niqab, Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner said imposing a ban on it was an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy.

Hammarberg added that supporters of the burqa does not project women as being more oppressed than other, adding that the veil does not undermine democracy or public morals.

"Prohibition of the burqa and the niqab would not liberate oppressed women, but might instead lead to their further alienation in European societies," he said.

"A general ban on such attires would constitute an ill-advised invasion of individual privacy."

He said that the ban on the burqa could also lead to a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Hammarberg said that the view that burqa undermines democracy, public safety or morals unconvincing was popularised by a few women who wear the veil -- around 1,900 in France, which has the largest Muslim population.

Earlier in France, a ban on the burqa and niqab was called a French parliamentary report in Jan, stating the women who wear the full islamic veil pose posed an "unacceptable" threat to French values.

Several European countries like Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands are considering a ban on burqa.

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